Here Are Three Reasons You Must Pray For The Unsaved

I belong to a facebook group where different Christian thoughts are shared. Recently, a question was posted which inspired this post. "Will You Pray At All For Someone Who Is Not willing To Submit To Christ?" That's a good question, isn't it? I believe as Christians, we all have experiences of praying for  the salvation of a friend, family member, neighbour etc and it seems the more we pray, and tell them about their need of salvation, their rebellion towards God and Christianity grows. Now, it can indeed get frustrating. So the question whether to continue in prayer for an unwilling, unrepentant sinner is, to be frank, a relevant question. In this post, I seek to answer an emphatic Yes to the question "Will You Pray At All For Someone Who Is Not willing To Submit To Christ?"

Here are my reasons

1: Prayers For The Unsaved Is A Command

In a conversation with His disciples, Jesus commanded them to pray about salvation of souls. "Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (Matthew 9:37-38). In these words, we see embedded the necessity of prayer for souls. Why must we pray for labourers? Because "The harvest is plentiful". In other words, there are many people who have to be saved. In 1Timothy 2:1-4, Paul instructs we engage in prayers for the salvation of souls. We don't possess the ability to save anyone. Salvation is of the Lord therefore we must continually entreat Him in prayer to save sinners. Without prayer, our efforts at reaching people for the Lord will be in vain.

After planting and watering, God is the one who gives the increase. Now, if we look at the preceeding verses of Matthew 9, we will get a perfect picture of why Jesus asked for prayers for labourers to be sent: "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."(v36).

Herein is the sad state of the unbeliever; the multitudes-crowd without Christ. They are harassed and helpless under the bondage of sin. They are guilty under the wrath of God. They are without a shepherd.  They have no relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ..."Harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd"...that must break every believers' heart to say a word of prayer for the unsaved. They will not admit it; but our Lord's words are true; they are "Harassed and helpless, like sheep without shepherd". They are lost! Out of compassion, our Lord told His disciples; “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”(v37-38). Don't give up praying for the lost.

2: Only God Can Break The Unwilling Heart Of The Sinner

It must not be lost on us as believers, that our salvation is not a smart choice or good decision we made. We are not smarter than our neighbhour who hasn't yet submitted to the Lordship of Christ. The truth is, we are not Christians because we were willing to give our lives to Christ. Jesus said He chose us, not us (John 15:16). In John 6:44, we are also told "No one can come to [Jesus] unless the Father ... draws him. By our own will we cannot be saved (Ezekiel 36:26, John 1:12-13, Roman 9:18). We are Christians because of God's grace.

Before we came to Christ, we were all people who rebelled against God until grace found us. In Ephesians 2:1-3, Paul describes our spiritual deadness prior to coming to Christ. He compares us to that unwilling sinner we are getting tired praying for. He seems to say, "before you came to Christ, you were just like them"; "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

That was our state. We were equally "following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience". We were no different from the unwilling unbeliever. The difference now is God's intervention. In verse 4 of Ephesians 2, after our former state has been described, we are told what God did with us: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—"

God showed us mercy. God stepped into out rebellion and broke our resistance. Knowing our former state and how merciful God has been to us, we must be patient and continue in prayer for those who seem unwilling to submit to Christ. Their unwillingness can only be broken by the Spirit of God. Don't give up. Keep praying for them. Their unwillingness is indeed a spiritual battle. Satan has blinded them to the truth. That is the more reason we must pray for them. Only God can rip off their spiritual blindness and shine lights into their hearts.

3: Someone Prayed For Your Salvation

You might not be directly aware. But I am confident your salvation is an answer to somebody's prayers. Your friend, your family member, a church in your community, a Pastor, your school chaplain, a missionary...somebody's prayer definitely has a hand in your salvation. An incident in the Bible readily comes to minpicture comes to mind. In Acts 7, Stephen's martydom by stoning is recorded:

Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen , he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord , do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.(vs58-60)

See two powerful phrases in the verses here. The first is the record that they laid Stephen's garment at the feet of Saul(v58) and secondly Stephen's prayer in v60, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them". Even at the brink of death Stephen still prays for his murderers. Immediately we step into Chapter 8, Saul's name is mentioned again. He has come into the picture. He must be important to the storyline: "And Saul approved of his execution."(v8). Fast foward to Chapter 9 we meet Saul and his encounter on the road to Damascus. He met the Lord and his life was changed. I am very convinced Paul's conversion has a relationship with Stephen's prayer; "Lord , do not hold this sin against them"

I pray you don't get tired praying for anyone's salvation. Continue in prayer and don't give up.

Renewed By The Holy Spirit

Titus 3:5-6

The Christian life is a relationship between a Holy God and sinful humanity, who, God in Christ has reconciled unto Himself (2 Cor 5:19). The Bible describes all of us  as sinners separated from God by sin (Rom. 3:23). As Christians, we were once dead in sin, but God through the Holy Spirit quickened us. He gave us life. He changed the disposition of our sinful hearts and brought us to saving faith in Christ Jesus.

Coming to Christ in faith is the first work of renewal the Holy Spirit does in our hearts.
He produces faith in our hearts to believe in Christ for the remission of sins. Salvation is a work of God through the Holy Spirit. Our renewal starts from the day we believed in Christ and were given the right to become children of God.

Now that we are children of God, what is required of us by God?

God requires from us a life of holiness and separation from sin. It not just a requirement. It is what we were created to be: holy (Eph 1:4, 1 Pet 1:15-17). We are called out of the world not to be friends with the world--lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life. This, left on our own is a daunting task because as long as we live on this side of eternity, our struggles with the flesh and with sin will continue:

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.(Gal 5:17).

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak(Matt 26:41).

However, despite the struggle, we are not victims of our flesh. We are not left on our own  to suffer under bondage of sin. God works in us to will and do of His good pleasure, while we, with the help of the Holy Spirit also work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We need not be overcome by sin. The Holy Spirit renews and gives us strength to be victorious.

How can we access this strength to be victorious?

By submission to God through prayer and feeding on His word:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.(Rom 12:1-4).

Are We Prepared For Eternity?

For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s (Romans 14:8ESV).

I was scheduled to preach at a friend's fellowship at Kasoa on Sunday 7th June, 2015. I live at Kuntunse. It meant I will be driving about 3hours on a highway to get to my destination. A total of six hours journey.

Before leaving home, I did something I rarely do. Usually, I pray for travelling mercies. But this time, when I sat by the steering, with the recent disaster that hit our nation fresh in my memory, the reality dawn on me: this could be my last trip. I might not return. There was no guarantee I was going to return.

With fear in my heart and a teary eye, I bowed my head and prayed "Father, If this journey happens to be my last, please receive me home safely through faith in Christ".
Fact is, there is no guaranteed protection from all of lives dangers because you are a Christian. Over the past weeks, stories of people who survived the flood and fire has being circulating. Some assert to an unknown hand that saved them from the fire. Glory to God!

But, while we are sharing the testimonies about how God saved people from the fire and floods, let's not lose sight of the fact that there are, or might have been believers in that inferno who perished. Yes, they perished! The God they served didn't save them. They might have probably prayed in the morning for safety while leaving home; yet they didn't return. Has God abandoned them? Did their faith fail? No, death is inevitable. How we die has no bearing on our level of Faith. "... it is appointed for man to die once"(Hen 9:27). While celebrating the stories of "escape", let's be sensitive to those who lost lives and property. "Mourn with those who mourn", that's biblical.

Let us put away the easy believism where Christians suppose they have an entitlement to life, and God will always deliver them from danger. God doesn't  always deliver from danger including death. We will all die. Some by fire, some by floods, some by disease, some by natural causes. Whatever way we are taken home, one question is important. Are we prepared for eternity?

My Journey from Charismatism to Calvinism*

IT IS A GREAT THING to begin the Christian life by believing good solid doctrine. Some people have received twenty different “gospels” in as many years; how many more they will accept before they get to their journey’s end, it would be difficult to predict. 1

About three years ago, I met Michael Appiah-Duku in a group on facebook. I had just self-published a book, Biblical Truths: Knowing What God Has Prepared For You and during one of my publicity campaigns in the group, I received a message in my inbox from Michael asking, “Are you a theologian?” Michael is aCalvinist and I was a Charismatic. After our first meeting in the group, a bond of friendship developed between us; a bond that is still ablaze today to the glory of God.

As will be expected, our beliefs began to clash. Our clashes, however, were friendly fires predominantly centred on theological and biblical subjects. We disagreed vehemently over many doctrines and the doctrine I resisted fiercely was the doctrine of grace as expounded by Reformed Theology. Top on my list of disagreement was Predestination: God electing some (The Elect) to eternal life, and others (Reprobates) He passed by to eternal damnation.

By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels (1) are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.(2) (1) 1Ti 5:21; Mt 25:41 (2) Ro 9:22,23; Eph 1:5,6; Pr 16:4 2

Predestination was obscene to me. I hated it. It made me angry. How can a Holy and loving God discriminate amongst His creation? Hasn’t He given all of His creation the opportunity to choose life? We all have the free will to choose or reject God. Don’t we? I often argued with Michael. Calvinist and Charismatic friendship is a weird combination. These are two opposing doctrinal beliefs and there was no way we were going to be friends without influencing each other.

Unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, I was the one who was influenced. Michael will shout ‘Soli Deo Gloria’ to that.

One day, I was gripped with the reality that, sitting on the fence without taking a stance between the Calvinist and Arminian divide was only intellectual and spiritual dishonesty. I had been presented with, through further reading, enough biblical evidence to embrace Calvinism and Reform Theology. It will equally be a lack of faith in God’s word, to reject that which is explicit in the Bible. If I didn’t bow, I would only be guilty of “always learning and not able to come to the truth“(2 Tim. 3:7). Gradually, I began to loosen my grip on charismatic doctrine and lean more towards Reform theology, which I found to be biblically sound and God glorifying.

Writing on Reformed Theology, in His book [ebook], What Is Reformed Theology?, R.C Sproul asserted that “Reformed theology is first and foremost theocentric rather than anthropocentric. That is, it is God-centered rather than man-centered.”3

Reform theology indeed is theocentric opposed to much of today’s evangelical church’s ‘anthropocentricism’. The final blow to my intransigent  posture towards Calvinism came when I listened to a message preached by Dr. James Montegomery Boice+ on The doctrine of Election. He spoke from Romans 9. I listened to the message on numerous occasions and never got tired of listening over and over. To date, it remains one of my favourite audio messages.

After a year or two of abhorring Reformed Theology, I am now fully persuaded Calvinism/Reform theology is biblical Christianity. We–Michael and I– wish by this blog to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”(Jude 1:3).

I will want to conclude by leaving you with one who has more authority in defending Calvinism than we have. Hear Charles H. Spurgeon:

I have my own opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel if we do not preach justification by faith without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing unchangeable eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross. 4

Soli Deo Gloria

Notes

* Article first was posted on http://semperreformandagh.com/

1:http://www.spurgeon.org/calvinis.htm
2: The  Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter Three, Of God’s Eternal Decrees, III
3: What Is Reformed Theology [ebook], R.C. Sproul, (Grand Rapids,Baker Publishing, 1997).
4:http://www.reformedreader.org/spurgeon/squotes.htm

+Deceased

Where Are You Going; Heaven or Hell?

Where are you going? ”Our destination is the place where we are going. In theology it refers to one of two places; either we are going to heaven or we are going to hell. In either case, we cannot cancel the trip. God gives us but two final options. One or the other is our final destination.¹

 When I was growing up, the phrase "Born Again" could be heard on the lips of every zealous young man/woman who had become associated with the charismatic movement. In evangelistic meetings, "Are you Born Again" is the most likely question you will hear. The likely question from proselytising friends was "Are You Born Again?". The expression was ubiquitous. Today, the story is different. The gospel--the preaching of the cross and of eternal life--has vanished into oblivion. In its stead, we have psychology, self-esteem, self-improvement, and prosperity masquerading as gospel on many  pulpits--big and small. Much of the content of our preaching lacks power to convict of sin.

Where are you going? Heaven or Hell? A friend describes it as "a sensitive subject".  Society today will not have anything to do with the idea of heaven or he'll. Did you read hell spelt as he'll? That's an autocorrection I allowed unedited. My smartphone doesn't recognise hell. I have to keep correcting it, anytime I typed it. To be sure what was going on, I typed some words(swear words) and in every instance I type a swear word, my phone autocorrects it. I realised my phone has been programmed to pick hell  as a swear word or so I thought. I think our society doesn't take hell serious. To us it is only a swear word, not a place where God wil punish sinners in eternity. Eternity; either eternal life or damnation cannot be glossed over, though a "sensitive" subject as described by my friend.

Where are you going? Heaven or Hell?  Let me rephrase the question because you might have been growing weary of it. Are you Born Again? In John 3:3, Jesus gave us the--sine qua non---prerequisite of entering the Kingdom of God:"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

The necessity for being Born Again as a condition to enter God's kingdom---eternal life---can be seen from the use of the literal device of repitition: "Truly, Truly...". I believe Jesus meant to drive home clearly a non-negotiable: "You must be Born Again"

The starting point for all of us is to acknowledge we are sinners separated from God by sin brought upon the whole human race by the fall and disobedience of Adam. All, without Christ, are spiritually dead; a consequence of Adam's disobedience. So we all carry in our bloodline Original sin.(Romans 3:11-12, 23, 5:12).

If  we are spiritually dead(Ephesians 2:1)in sin and separated from God, the only way to be reconciled to Him is to pay and appease Him for His wrath. But by ourselves, we cannot make up and pay for our sins. So God the Father placed our sins upon Jesus as an atonement to save  His people from sin and reconcile us to God through faith. “For God so loved the world, [that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). "...he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."(2 Corinthians 5:21).

Now, the only way to be reconciled to God is to come to saving faith. We cannot save ourselves(Ephesians 2:8). The only hope for us is  God effecting a regenerating work in our hearts by His Spirit. To be Born Again therefore is a work of God and we have to cry out for mercy to be given a heart that believes (Ezekiel 36:25-27).

Would you acknowledge your need of a Saviour? Come just as you are. Forsake your sins. Repent and turn to the Saviour of your soul."But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.(John 1:12-13).

Notes:

1:R. C. Sproul, Chosen By God (1986 Tyndale House Publishers)

Called By God

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours(1 Cor1:1-2).

From Paul's salutation to the church in Corinth, we learn a vital truth:  He was " called by the will of God"(vs1) and this is true of every believer; we are also "called by the will of God": "called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus"(vs 2 see also Rom 8:29-30, Joh 1:12-13 ).

Why are we called? We are called to be reconciled to God from sin. We are called to be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God. We are called to become children of God (John 1:12-13), set apart for His use Holy use: "sanctified in Christ Jesus" God's call was made before the foundations of the earth and we contributed nothing to it. If you are a believer, you were set apart  as a chosen vessel to reveal His glory and be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29, 9:23).

Paul was called by the will of God to be an apostle. The believers in the church of Corinth were also called. God's calling is in no relation to any inherent good in us. Our calling is rooted in God's mercy and His grace (Eph. 2:1-10 ). Remember Paul was a persecutor of the church of His day, before his encounter with Jesus.

Like Paul and the Corinthian believers; every believer is called with an assignment to fulfill. We are not on a "self-sent" assignment on earth. Our lives, our breath, our purpose for existence all takes its source from God. "In Him we live, move and have our being"(Acts 17:28). We are all on God's assignment.  He brought us on earth for His purpose, His will, His plan and His agenda. Our life originates and evolves  around God and what He created us for.

If there is any truth that will sustain us, it is that we take our existence from God. We are, because He is: self-existent and all sufficient. We take our sufficiency from Him. We are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10 ) and without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5 ). God Is Our source of Existence.  The Bible opens with the words "In the beginning God..."(Genesis 1:1).Our lives and the whole of the Universe takes its source from God(Rev. 4:11, John 1:3-4)

Love In The Air

I once joined a taxi cab and the driver was playing a song by Toni Braxton(I might be wrong). Here is a line from the music: "Dream lover come rescue me/I need you so desperately" ...."I need you so desperately": That speaks volumes about the heart cry of the human race. Hear more sampled lyrics of songs I believe you can identify: "You always on my mind", "Girl you are my angel" "You make me feel like a natural woman", "Write your name across my heart/I want the world to know you are mine forever" and my recent favorite "Odo Carpenter".

Love, without doubt, I believe is the most sang about subject worldwide. This points to how needy we are as humans, doesn't it? We want to be loved. We want to be appreciated. We want to have a sense of belonging. The loss of a love one shatters us. There is everything right with that. God made it so. That we love one another. We are not islands. We are interdependent on others to achieve a certain level of self-worth and self-acceptance. "Everyone needs somebody”—that is a very popular saying and it is true. No one is an island, we all need relationships and friendship to carry on in life. We are interconnected. We are to be each others keeper. We are to bear the burdens of one another. Acknowledging the place of love in our human interactions is a necessary ingredient for peaceful and harmonious living.

However, despite its universal acceptance, love can be abused when sought for in the wrong places. Human love has its limitations. It can and does fail based on how well we perform and how much we meet up to another person's standards. Human love can also be abused and used as a tool for manipulation. "If you love me...". That's a popular one we can all identify with. Isn't it? When we make imperfect human beings, the source from which we derive all of our emotional well being, then we are unhealthy, vulnerable and heading towards an emotional disaster.

What is love? Where do we take our cues of love from? From music? Soap Opera's? Novels? Love in its Greek origin carries a number of meanings. I will give a brief summary of these:

EROS:  Intimate, sensual and erotic.
STORGE: Natural affection. This is usually love shared amongst family members.
PHILIA: Affection shared purely by friends and can generally be described as platonic.
AGAPE : Unconditional Love.

From the summary of what love is, we can see much of the emphasis on love from society through music, is sadly one sided; Eros,  Romance, Feelings and the sensual. It is not uncommon to find  gospel music mimicking the idea of Romantic love, reducing God's love to good feelings and sensations. With society's fixation on eros - erotic and sensual - God's perfect, unconditional love can easily be lost in our minds. In an age of feelings and sensations, we can easily confuse God's love with how good or bad we feel at a particular moment. In the process, we end up defining God's love by our feelings. But God's love is unconditional, it is perfect. God, the Bible tells us is love. God's love is not just a characteristics of who God is. God Himself is love. God's love is Agape love; selfless and unconditional. It is the highest form of love. Agape love is the kind of love God manifested towards us when Jesus left all of His glory, took upon Him the form of man and died a wretched sinner's life(though He was sinless) to reconcile humanity to God(Philippians 2:6-9, 2 Corinthians 5:21 ). It was love that sent Him to the cross.

Do you need love desperately? Where are you seeking for it? No human, no sexual experience, no entertainment, no drug, no alcoholic beverage, no emotional high, no peers or family can fully give you the love you need to feel wanted, loved and accepted. If you are a believer, you don't have to strive for acceptance, you are already accepted in Christ (Ephesians 1:6, Jeremiah 31:3, 2Thessalonians 2:16 , 1John 3:1 ). God's love is everlasting and nothing can separate us from that love(Romans 8:35 ). You can't do more or less to be loved by God. You are already loved. Is that a licence to live our lives anyhow? No. However, living on this side of eternity in a fallen human body, we will still battle with sin and if we ever lose a battle against sin, we must never despair that God will take His love away from us. Christ' propitiation for our sins is for all sins committed in the past, committed in the present and to be committed in the future. Though He calls us to holy living and holy we must live, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness(1John 1:8-9). We do sin and that is the reality of the fallen human condition. Though saved, we struggle in different areas with the sin problem and its resultant guilt. R.C. Sproul in his book, What Can I Do With My Guilt, wrote these profound words:

The simple truth is that if God forgives us, we are forgiven. That’s an objective state of affairs. Maybe our friends will not forgive us. Maybe our spouses will not forgive us. Maybe society will not forgive us. Maybe the government will not forgive us. But if God forgives us, we are forgiven. That doesn’t mean that we were never guilty. We cannot have forgiveness without real guilt. But forgiveness releases us from the punishment that we justly deserve because of our guilt. Through it, we can be restored to a healthy and loving relationship with God.1

Now, if you are not a Christian the love of God will make no sense to you. You might end up searching for love in the wrong places. The vacuum and emptiness in your heart you seek to fill with other things can only be filled by God's love. That vacuum is just a symptom of a root problem of sin and separation from God. All humanity is condemned under sin(Romans 8:23 ) and until we bring the burden of our sins to Christ, we still stand guilty before God. Repent from your sins and surrender your life to Christ. Be reconciled to Himand let Him give you the love you so desire.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.(John 3:16

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10).

Notes:
1: R.C. Sproul, What Can I Do With My Guilt, ©2011, Reformation Trust Publishing.

Four Reasons To Be Bold In 2015

2 Timothy 1:6-7 ,  1 Corinthians 1:1-39

"Keep focus, Don't Give Up, Have a plan, Extend Your Network, Take Risks, Be Positive" and many more of these self-help strategies swamped my mind while preparing to speak to a Christian youth group on the theme "Take A Bold Step Into 2015". I only have to open my Bible and garnish these points with "practical living" biblical texts and I have a ready message to deliver.  But how different would my message be from what they might have heard all year round? I asked myself. In deep thought, I concluded that too much emphasis has been placed on these self-help strategies , especially on pulpits that must be preaching the gospel of Christ and I wasn't going to add to an already pathetic situation. Don't get me wrong. Self-help strategies are in themselves not bad. But when they are given prominence over the gospel, then we must raise eyebrows. The truth is people can be taught all the self-help strategies, attain all the success imaginable and yet be damned to eternal damnation: "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).

Here are four points gleaned from the message I delivered to my friends in the youth group.

1: You Are Called By God

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours(1 Corinthians1:1-2).

From Paul's salutation to the church in Corinth, we learn a vital truth: If you are a believer, you are "called by the will of God" (Romans 8:29-30, John 1:12-13 ). God, before the foundations of the earth, set you aside as a chosen vessel to reveal His glory (Romans 9:23). Paul was called by the will of God to be an apostle. The believers in the church of Corinth were also called. God's calling is not in relation to any inherent good in us. Our calling is rooted in God's mercy and His grace (Ephesians 2:1-10 ). Like Paul and the Corinthian believers; every believer is called with an assignment to fulfill. We are not on a "self-sent" assignment on earth. Our lives, our breath, our purpose for existence all takes its source from God. "In Him we live, move and have our being"(Acts 17:28). We are all on God's assignment.  He brought us on earth for His purpose, His will, His plan and His agenda. Our life originates and evolves  around God and what He created us for. If there is any truth that will sustain us in 2015, it is that we take our existence from God. We are, because He is: self-existent and all sufficient. We take our sufficiency from Him. We are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10 ) and without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5 ). God Is Our source of Existence.  The Bible opens with the words "In the beginning God..."(Genesis 1:1).Our lives and the whole of the Universe takes its source from God(John 1:3-4) This knowledge and truth will make a lot of difference in your life in 2015.

2. You Have The Holy Spirit: Not A Spirit Of Fear

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7)

Every believer has the seal of the indwelling Holy Spirit and that's enough assurance of security. "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory".(Ephesians 1:13-14).Now  2015 is a new year, we haven't walked this path before, so for some, it will create fear and anxiety. That is normal. Change comes with the unknown. The unknown comes with fear and uncertainty. Everything new always produces a level of anxiety and nervousness. Will I win, will this turn out well? Can I truly do this? Fear is a potent power that can ground and immobilize anyone to try new things. Fear will stop you from entering the place of change God has for you. Fear I believe is “faith in the devil.” From 2 Timothy 1: 7 it is clear fear is a spirit— a spirit not from God. “… God hath not given us the spirit of fear.” If fear is not a spirit from God, then obviously, it originates from Satan. Now, as much as fear is an enemy for change, fear itself is not the problem. The problem is what we do with fear: whether we will allow it to immobilize us or serve as a springboard for greater things. If placed in a right perspective; fear will drive us to our only source of strength— God ( Acts 4:29 ). You can overcome fear— you have the Holy Spirit.

3. 2015: Incomparable To Eternity

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus... as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.(1 Corinthians 1:4-9).

Every born again believer carries a secure eternal promise. The faithfulness of God that called us in His dear Son will sustain us until eternity. That's guaranteed. Nobody can snatch you from the Father's hands(John 10:29 ) and nothing can separate us from the Father's love(Romans 8:35 ). That's security: in this present age and the ages to come. God will take care of you. Nothing can jeopardise the future and security over your life.  The greatest question you must ask yourself however is "Am I one of His"?. Many people sit in church who have no relationship with God through Christ Jesus. They have good Christian upbringing but they are not born again. Some came looking for a solution because they heard Jesus will solve all their problems. Are you called of the Lord? Are you a saint in Christ? Are you you born again? Will your success in 2015 stand the test of time in eternity? Settling your eternal destination is bigger than any achievements in 2015. Ponder that.

4. God's Vessels Are Ordinary People.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being  might boast in the presence of God.(1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

"Foolish, weak, unwise...". These are not befitting words to describe anybody. But that is how God describes those He calls. Now, In an age of abundant success formulas, the world lures us away "from the simplicity in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3). As Christians, we can easily be held "...captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ"(Colossians 2:8). We can easily get trapped in a man centered Christianity where we have to do so much to be blessed by God. We might be tempted to seek a certain level of "spiritual or social status" to court God's favour.  The Bible however tells us "it is not by might, but the Spirit of God. Scripture is littered with "nobodies" whose lives were turned around by God. Every vessel of God is an ordinary vessel. But God is extraordinary and He works in an extraordinary way to bring His purpose to pass in ordinary vessels. If you are a believer, you can be bold in 2015 because you qualify as a vessel of God. God takes unqualified people and qualifies them. John Piper, a minister of the gospel wrote that “when it comes to being a candidate for grace, your background has nothing to do with God’s choice”.  Many of the people God worked through and is working through were not, are not and will never be the obvious choice of society. Why? So that no human will have cause to glory in God’s presence. Be bold, you Ur an ordinary vessel of God.

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From John Chapter 3

God Loves You

Faith In Jesus For Eternal Life

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).

I have met humble, good and morally upright people who care less about Jesus. Is Jesus then saying, "No way" apart from faith in me? even for these good people? Yes, that's exactly what He is saying. Either it is true that Jesus is "...the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.(John 14:6) or it is not true.  I have said before in a post that beliefs--religious beliefs have dire eternal consequences and it is everyone's responsibility to have right beliefs. Your beliefs would either land you in hell or heaven. Well, you can also believe death ends it all...that also is nice. But it has its consequences.

In a democracy, we all have freedom of worship, but that democratic right doesn't change God's truth neither does God adjust His truth to accommodate our rights. Ignorance, legal language says is no excuse. Equally, Scriptures says for the lack of knowledge my people perish. This is no mere religious talk, this bothers on eternity; so seek for truth. If what you have is truth, great. If it is not, you might want to start considering your eternal destiny. For the believer in Christ and the unbeliever; we have all made a choice and our choice must necessarily be the truth NOW. You can't get to the other side of eternity and be shocked your beliefs were wrong.

One day, while interacting with the Jews, Jesus made some statements that ignited fury against Him. On this particular occasion, Jesus revealed His deity; "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30). Such arrogance! Such blasphemy! Who is this insane person who claims to be God. They might have responded with fury. They picked up stones to finish Him there, but He calmed them and asked: "Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?" (John 10:32). The charge, they responded; "...For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God". (vs 33).

Clearly, in this conversation with the Jews, they understood "I and my Father are one" as a claim to be God. God manifested in the flesh...that is the greatest claim a mere man can make, and rightly so, if His claims were false, He deserved to be stoned! In another interaction, this time with His own disciples, Philip made a request; "Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us" (John 14:8). See through that question; it carries with it an element of doubt "ermmm...is He who He claims to be?"...Jesus' answer was equally like the one that nearly sparked a mob action from the Jews: "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" (vs 9). C.S Lewis, in his great classic, Mere Christianity penned these words:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God..."

Decide now...

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From The Gospel of John Chapter 3

Continued from Previous Post

The Relationship Between God and The World Part 2

For God so loved the world...(John 3:16)

When I sat down last night to write today's topic, I overheard my kids singing..Jesus Loves The Little Children/All the children of the world/Red, brown, yellow, black and white/They are precious in His sight/Jesus loves the little children of the world ....I listened to them and in the process, they interrupted my train of thoughts...I was going to talk about Agape, Storge, Philia, Eros...and other Greek meanings of the word Love.

Now, these kids, in their innocence and carefree life(what is life all about is not in their vocab) would never ask questions about the love of God. Jesus loves the little children; a child's world: No questions asked! It is us adults, grown up men and women, who  start asking questions when the love of God is mentioned. If you have been around for a considerable number of years, you would have had your fair share of the pains, hurts and disappointments in life.

The struggles, the dashed dreams, the broken hearts, finances that won't balance, wayward children, rejection, emotions that won't cooperate with your brains...It is rare to find a person who hasn't encountered any challenge of any sort in this life. One of the hardest hit man in human history, Job, aptly described the nature of life. He said: "...man is born unto trouble..." (Job 5:18).

In a space of twenty-four hours, he lost all he had; such a great contradiction in the life of a man who was "...perfect and upright...feared God, and eschewed evil" (job 1:1). His was not a twenty-four hour miracle. His was a twenty-four hour disaster.

The pains, hurts and disappointments of this life in themselves are not the real problem; they are just the symptoms of the real problem. Sin is the real problem, but unfortunately, we seem to focus on dealing with the symptom instead of the real ailment: sin. When sin was first introduced into God's creation, it came with its accompanying calamities worse of which was separation from God: When Adam and Eve fell, the whole human race plummeted with them and their judgement became humanity's judgement; death and toil:

"...I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:15-18).

After the pronouncement of judgement, man was driven away from the presence of God and that gulf of separation remains till today until one comes to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Loves The Little Children/All the children of the world/Red, brown, yellow, black and white/They are precious in His sight/Jesus loves the little children of the world...is not only true in a child's world. It is equally true in an adult's life.

God created us and wants to reconcile us back unto Himself and to the uninterrupted relationship and fellowship he intended from the beginning. Nothing will satisfy our yearning souls until we direct it towards the very owner of that soul. He created us for Himself and knows the needs of our hearts. The emptiness cannot be filled with anything. Sex will not do. Drugs will not do. Alcohol will not do. Materialism will not do. Wealth and prosperity will not do. At best, they can only numb the pain; but "...what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From John Chapter 3

12: God Loves You(continued from previous post)

1: The Relationship Between God And The World Part One

For God so loved the world...( John 3:16).

The first introduction of God we see in the Bible is that of a Creator. The Architect of the whole universe. The universe, humans, animals and plants all take their origin from God: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Psalms 24:1 further tells us "The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.(Psalms 24:1).

I recently read an article in the 21st-27th October, 2012 edition of the Catholic Standard which speaks volumes about the Creator and His relationship with His creation. In the article, the Cardinal of Washington, Donald W. Wuerl is quoted to have said:

[ a] tsunami of secularism” has washed across the world, leaving in its wake a tendency to deny God’s existence, or to deny that God’s existence is relevant to human thinking and action…. Without God the very understanding of what it means to be human is altered…. Human dignity and human rights flow from the fact that human beings are created in God’s image.

Those words, "Without God the very understanding of what it means to be human is altered….Human dignity and human rights flow from the fact that human beings are created in God’s image." leads  us into a magnificent truth: We are created in the image of God. That is not a thing to be taken frivolously. We, created in His image are the objects of His divine, unwavering love. The love He demonstrated in sending Jesus to the cross to die is directed towards us mere mortals: christian or non-christian, religious or non-religious. Moral or immoral; God loves you.

Even if you don't believe in the existence of God, you might want to pause and consider the complexity of the world including your very being.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.  O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!(Psalms 8:3-9).

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From John Chapter 3

12: God Loves You

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).

Imagine this:

A guest preacher is introduced in your church. He mounts the pulpit. He does all the usual pleasantries, announces his theme; then asks everyone to turn to John 3:16. Most probably, there would be three  responses: One group of  persons would not refer; because they are familiar with the text and can recite it from memory with ease.

Others, still with an attitude of familiarity, will develop apathy towards the preacher: "what has he got to say?". The third response, would be like the second; but apathy would be replaced with fervour: "what has he got to say?"

Again, still with familiarity to the text in mind, try hard to imagine how a child who has spent enough time in a Sunday school class would recite John 3:16. It might go like this(the breaks indicates the sloppiness of child-like speech): For---God--- so--- loved--- the world,--- that he gave--- his only begotten Son,---that whosoever--- believeth in him ---should not perish,--- but have everlasting life.

In its familiarity and imagined child-like reading lies what I will describe as the core and heart of Christian doctrine. In John 3:16, we find a breathtaking synopsis of the entire gospel. If we split these words of Jesus, we will be staring at a stockpile of biblical truth: "God"..."  "love" "the world"..."gave"..."only begotten son"..."believe"..."not perish"..."eternal life". In subsequent posts, I will attempt to tackle this text from a four point approach :

1: The relationship between God and the world
2: God's greatest gift
3: Faith
4: Eternal Life
         

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From John Chapter 3

11: Jesus Christ: God's Remedy For Sin

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:14-15).

Long before He came unto the scene, His life and mission was announced through the Patriarchs and prophets of old. Jacob prophesied about Him: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (Genesis 49:10). Isaiah spoke both about His birth, death and sacrifice of atonement: "...Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel"(Isaiah 7:24), "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5-6).

Jesus didn't just emerge in human history. When John The Baptist first saw Him, He exclaimed: "...Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:26). Every Jew at Jesus' lifetime was waiting in anticipation of the prophesied Messiah, yet, when He showed up; when " He came unto his own,...his own received him not." (John 1:11). Isaiah accurately prophesied His rejection.

In this interaction with Nicodemus, Jesus referenced Scripture to tell Nicodemus more about the Kingdom of God and salvation. The first time I read John 3:14, I startled: "How on earth should Jesus liken Himself to a serpent?".

It will be good to recount what Jesus was referencing. Jesus here drew an analogy from an incident that happened in the wilderness when the Israelites were sojourning to the promise land. The people murmured and complained: they sinned against God. And as punishment for their sins, God sent snakes among them and everyone bitten by a snake died. Having realised the severity of the situation, they cried to God, and Moses was instructed to erect a pole and hang a brass serpent. According to God's instruction, anyone who looked up to the brass serpent, will live. (See Numbers 21:5-9 for full story).

The serpent hanging on a pole or tree indicated punishment for sin and a curse. Scriptures says "...Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Galatians 3:13). In effect, all those who sinned against God in the wilderness, deserved the full impact of punishment, but God said no, He provided a way of escape by putting "sin" itself on the tree. Remember sin was first introduced into the human race through a serpent.

Jesus , therefore, referencing this incident was describing His own death, His substitutionary death for the sins of humankind.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him".(2 Corinthians 5:21). 

All of us, as members of the human race, like the Israelites in the wilderness have been stung by sin. Before God , we stand guilty of sin until we come to Christ through faith

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From The Gospel Of John 3

10: Christ Must Be Revealed In Our Message To The World.

And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:(vs 13-14).

In this conversation with Nicodemus, we see a familiar trait with Jesus when He engages in conversations.

Eventually, in many of his interactions, He ends up  talking about Himself. He begins with stories, parables, analogies...from the familiar to the unfamiliar; then plummets into His deity and identity as the long awaited Messiah. He refer people to Scriptures and what has been prophesied of Him. Read the gospels and you will notice. My favourite is in John 4: 25-26, Jesus' interaction with the Samaritan woman; "The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he."

"I that speak unto thee am he". In those  words, Jesus revealed Himself: "I am the Messiah"...In all our philosophising, in all our stories, in all our analogies; in all our preaching, sermons and any other way we spread the gospel, if Christ is not revealed, we have failed. Preacher, Christian Musician, Christian Author, Christian Minister in any capacity; may it not be said of us that we left the preaching of Christ and got preoccupied with other things.

Fellow Christian, are you happy when you hear a sermon for 45-60minutes and Christ is not mentioned? What an indictment on the gospel. Has Christ become archaic and irrelevant to our generation? Christian friends, are we truly fed and nourished by all the travesty parading as Christianity?

May God have mercy on us for believing lies caricatured in the name of Christianity. May Christ be revealed in all we do. May we see Christ revealed in Scriptures above all other things. Christ is pivotal in Scriptures; all other things are secondary.

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From John Chapter 3

9: The Natural World Conveys Spiritual Truth

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? (John 3:11-13).

Jesus, what a Master communicator He was. He told stories. He used parables. He drew analogies from the natural environment; all with one agenda: conveying spiritual and eternal Truth. From Childbirth, Death, Aquaculture, Agriculture, Meteorology, Parenting, Light, Darkness, Bakery and we can add on, He had something to say. In this interaction with Nicodemus, we see Jesus drawing an analogy from childbirth to explain spiritual birth---born again.

I said in a previous post that just as our natural birth gives us entrance into the human race, our spiritual birth also gives us entrance into God's Kingdom:

...Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (vs 3).

One fact of the spiritual birth we learn from our natural birth is that just as we don't determine our birth, the spiritual birth is also exclusively a work of God by His Spirit.

...as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13).

Jesus clearly illustrated this when He said in John 6:65, "...no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."  To be born again is a work of God. We can't  save ourselves  unless the Spirit of God has worked on on our hearts; convicted us of sins and regenerated our dead spirits. This places a great demand on us to always pray the Lord convicts the hearts we minister to.

By our own efforts---preaching, writing, singing, choreography, drama and all other means by which we spread the gospel, we cannot save any soul until the Spirit convicts. We can have well laid out and planned sermons. We can have the best stories and analogies, but "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."(John 6:63)

Spiritual truth is not shrouded in total mystery. All around us, God's creation speaks. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." (Psalms 19:1). Hear God and seek Him. His own creation speaks of Him(unless of course the world to you is an "accident"). "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead..." (Romans 1:20).

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From The Gospel of John 3

8: How Much Premium Do You Place on The Bible?

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?(John 3:10).

You see, Jesus' question to Nicodemus indicated that everything He has been explaining to him about the new birth was right there in the Old Testament, and Nicodemus, a Pharisee ---scholar in the Old Testament--- should easily understand the new birth. That explains Jesus' shock. "Nicodemus, you should know these things?"( my own rendition).

Clearly, Jesus was saying, "Nicodemus, this born again I am telling you is nothing new. It is not a new idea. It is right there in Scriptures. Nicodemus, you should know these things". Being born again was not a new term Jesus invented. Rightly so, New Testament is a fulfilment of everything prophesied in the Old. See Born Again in Old Testament:

For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.(Ezekiel 36:24-27).

Too many of us are running around seeking for a sign, a revelation, a word etc etc when everything we need to live a fruitful and victorious life is right there in the Word of God. The much sought for will of God is right there in the Bible.

Veer away  from the Bible and you are veering away from the very  word of God that will give you the direction you need for your life:

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.(Psalms 113:105).

My passion as a believer is towards the word of God. Nothing gets my attention than a ''biblically accurate holy spirit inspired word.'' Preach the Word! Paul told Timothy.

There is too much Psychology and popular opinion amongst us; even on great pulpits. The children of God--people He has purchased with His own blood deserve better from preachers. We deserve better from the Word. We deserve to be fed the unadulterated Word. As in the days of Ezra, we need a revival of the word of God amongst us today. In a conversation with a friend, Daniel Zotoo, he made a statement that registered on my mind strongly. He said "This generation needs the unadulterated word of God. The raw word".

Would you be one of those in this generation who will place high premium on the Bible and its truth? I surely want to be.

Seeking For Truth: Lessons From John Chapter 3

7: Half-Truth is No Truth

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?(vs 10).

Standing in front of Jesus is a man described in vs 1 as a Pharisee and ruler of Israel.  In today's diction he could pass for a theologian and a bible scholar.

In Nicodemus, we find a truth that should guide us all in life and especially in our Christian walk. We can know many things yet not know the truth. Jesus' question was one of an expression of surprise. I can imagine the face with which He asked that question. He definitely was amazed. His question indicates to us that the idea of born again is in the Scriptures and not necessarily a new idea. Nicodemus being a master, Rabbi should have known, but, he only  knew half-truth, which is no truth at all.

In Acts 18 also, we see another man who knew so many things yet didn't know the truth. "...Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures..."(Acts 18:24).

Mighty in Scriptures! What a way to describe a person. However, as mighty as Apollos was in Scripture, he didn't know the whole truth. He was an eloquent man. He can preach! But what he had was half-truth:

This man[Apollos] was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.( Acts 18:25-26). 

What a shock! Preacher man finished preaching and a couple, church members called him aside to "expound unto him the way of God more perfectly. This can't happen in our generation. We are gagged! We take everything hook, line and sinker-no questions asked. We can't grow and mature that way.

Regardless of what you hear and from whom, verify. One of the many things I am grateful to God for is that in my life I have people around me who can call me to question when I make a false statement  not in line with Scripture. I have personal critics. I don't just write or say things "by heart"( someone is reading me, he knows himself, he will call me to book if I twist Scriptures). In the process, my beliefs have been challenged. I have dropped off some "lies" on the way. I can confidently say with Paul that "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." (1 Corinthian 13:11).

I want to appeal to you my friends;  be careful of blind faith and half truths. Your Pastor, mentor or favourite author doesn't know it all. No matter how gifted, charismatic or anointed a preacher is, don't take them as final authority. It is your responsibility to know the truth. The plumb line for truth is Holy Scripture, not the words of your pastor or anyone else. A person can be highly gifted and successful in ministry, yet speaks half-truth. I am not inciting rebellion, I am calling for a life that is lived with a high value of Scripture. If a message or statement contradicts with Scriptures, don't just accept it because it is coming from your favourite. "Deep" is not necessarily true. "Deep" could just be "the enticing words of man's wisdom". Nicodemus was a master, he should have known about being born again, yet he didn't.

My prayer for you this morning is the prayer of Paul for the Ephesians:

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18).

Eternity Beckons

 

When a soul passes into eternity, those of us still alive, must pause and check our lives. Last night, I heard the news of the passing on into glory of a young Pastor I will describe as a casual friend in ministry. We met at a conference just about a month or two ago and passionately spoke about ministry. Now just a few days down the line, this young university graduate, who chose to go into ministry instead of the corporate world—while some of us play it safe with one leg in—has passed on into glory.
 

I write this with tearful eyes and asking, “What’s going on; God, why didn’t you allow this young man to live long to see the results and fruits of his labour?” I can only conclude and say "in your Sovereignty, you alone knows what you doing"

The more I ponder this, the more it becomes clear to me we are all living on borrowed time. Our days are numbered: Life on earth is just a fraction of eternity. One day we will all depart. Every waking day is a day closer to eternity. My heart is broken, this is a young man who carried such passion for the Lord and desired to see a revival in his days. But just like Paul, I believe he also fought a good fight, finished his course, kept the faith and is going to receive his crown of righteousness (see 2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Now, no matter how long we live, one day we will have to depart; it’s inevitable because “…it is appointed unto men once to die and after that the judgement” (Hebrews 9:27). Even if you live to be 100—which some of you have faith for—you will still have to depart one day into eternity. I wonder what you need all those years for anyway? I plead with you all my friends. In all sincerity of heart and love, be ready, you can be called home anytime. When that call comes—and it will come— will you be ready?

Where will you spend eternity? If you not sure, settle that now. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18)